A 5-year and 4-month-old female cow, which died last week in northern Japan, has tested positive for mad cow disease, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Monday.

This is the 30th case of confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Japan, according to a release of the ministry.

The cow was born on a farm in Chitose, Hokkaido in June 2001 before the implementation of a ban on meat-and-bone meal suspected of being a cause of the brain-wasting disease, the ministry said.

Mad cow disease was first diagnosed in Britain in 1986, and spread through countries in Europe, Asia and North America. The disease can be contracted by human being through eating infected beef product.

Japan discovered its first mad cow case in September 2001. The government later started introducing measures to screen every cow slaughtered for consumption.